Mose
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "delivered" or "drawn out."
Name Census estimates that about 2,586 living Americans carry the first name Mose. It is a predominantly male name (99.3% of registrations). The average person named Mose today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mose births was 1919 (168 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mose. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Mose with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Mose is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 55 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
2.6K
~ 1 in 132,542 Americans
Peak year
1919
168 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,401
Tracked since 1880
Census
Mose in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,143 people with the first name Mose, which placed it at #7,192 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#7,192
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,143 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
46.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mose
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mose is White at 46.9%. The next largest groups are Black (39.9%) and Hispanic (5.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Mose described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Mose at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White46.9% · 1,004
- Black or African American39.9% · 855
- Hispanic or Latino5.3% · 113
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.5% · 96
- Two or more races2.3% · 49
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 26
Gender
Gender distribution for Mose
Out of the 7,960 babies given the name Mose since 1880, 99.3% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Mose as a male name
- Ranked #6,683 in 2024
- 13 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1919 (168 births)
Mose as a female name
- Ranked #4,401 in 1944
- 6 female births in 1944
- Peak: 1923 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mose leans strongly male. 2,121 people counted with this name were male (98.6%), compared with 30 female bearers (1.4%).
Popularity
Mose: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mose from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 1,188 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mose by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Mose during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Moses live
The SSA's state-level files cover 19 states and territories. Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia recorded the most babies named Mose, while Missouri, Michigan, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 189 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mose
The name Mose has its origins in the Hebrew language and is derived from the Hebrew name Moshe, which is the Biblical name of the prophet Moses. The name Moshe is believed to come from the Hebrew root "mashah," which means "to draw out."
In the Bible, the Book of Exodus tells the story of how Moses was drawn out of the Nile River as a baby by the daughter of the Pharaoh. This event is thought to be the source of the name's meaning. The name Mose, therefore, carries the connotation of being "drawn out" or "delivered."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mose can be found in the Bible itself, where it is used to refer to the prophet Moses, who led the Israelites out of Egypt and received the Ten Commandments from God on Mount Sinai.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Mose. One example is Mose da Ravenna, an Italian Renaissance painter born around 1370 in Ravenna, Italy. Another is Mose Guarducci, an Italian painter and architect who lived from 1622 to 1693.
In the realm of literature, Mose Purtill was an American author and educator who lived from 1910 to 1992. He is known for his works on philosophy and ethics.
In the world of sports, Mose Yon-Judices was a Cuban baseball player who played in the Negro leagues in the 1920s and 1930s. He was inducted into the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939.
Another notable figure with the name Mose is Mose Allison, an American jazz pianist, singer, and songwriter who lived from 1927 to 2016. He was known for his unique blend of jazz and blues, and his influence can be heard in the works of many modern musicians.
While the name Mose is not as common today as it once was, it remains a name with a rich historical and cultural significance, particularly in the Judeo-Christian tradition.
People
Mose + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mose as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mose: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mose?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,586 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mose going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 132,542 US residents.
Is Mose a common name?
We classify Mose as "Rare". It ranks above 94.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7,960 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mose most popular?
The single biggest year for Mose was 1919, when 168 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mose is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mose in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,143 people with the name Mose, or 0.71 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,192 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Mose in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Mose?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mose leans strongly male. 2,121 people counted with this name were male (98.6%), compared with 30 female bearers (1.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Mose?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mose is White at 46.9%. The next largest groups are Black (39.9%) and Hispanic (5.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Mose most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mose in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.9% (1,004 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Mose in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mose a male name?
Yes, 99.3% of people registered as Mose in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Mose still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mose in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Mose can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Mose?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.